RIP Gloria Steinem, 1934-2026

Gloria Steinem was very much a heroine of my generation.  I did not know her personally, although I met her once.  It was a memorable occasion.

Gloria Steinem, Padma Lakshmi, Ruth Reichl, and me in 2021.

This was a meeting at Gloria’s house to discuss menopause, of all things.  I could not figure out why I was invited—I’m a little late for that discussion.  It turned out that one of the women there, a donor to Gloria’s foundation apparently,  had developed a line of menopause products and wanted us to know about them.

Whatever.  I was thrilled to be there and have the chance to meet her.

We are the same generation.  We came of age at a time when women opportunities for women to work, let alone have careers, were limited.

We did cross paths.  We were at the same meeting in Moscow in 1959.  She was funded by the CIA; I was not.  We did not meet.

But I knew about her work from early on.  I loved her account of posing as a Playboy bunny.  I could see how MS magazine provided an intellectual basis for the women’s movement.

It even provoked new thoughts about the food movement.  My all-time favorite article (I am mentioned in it) is The Feminist Food Revolution.  It asked a question I had never thought of: Why do men keep getting all the credit for the food movement?

She was a tireless advocate for better opportunities for women, and an inspiration to keep on advocating.

I wish I had known her better.

Here’s The New York Times obituary.  It’s on the top of the front page of the print copy, as well it should.